BES, the specialist in delivering cGMP compliant facilities for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences and healthcare industries, has strengthened its leadership team to deliver continued scalability and prepare for continued profitable growth.

Based in Rochdale and Milton Keynes, BES works collaboratively with innovative start-ups, SMEs through to blue chip clients and in partnership with main contractors. Founded in 2002, the company now has a team of 180 professionals and acquired specialist partitioning system company, Norwood, in 2017.  It offers turnkey consultancy, engineering, design, construction and validation for technically complex, controlled environments, including cleanrooms, laboratories, manufacturing and processing facilities. 

BES celebrates 20 years in business in 2022 and has grown to a £100 million turnover organisation, prompting the decision to enhance its board structure, including the introduction of chairman, CEO and COO roles.

Founding director and incumbent managing director, Steve Marsh, will move to the role of chairman from 1 July, retaining strategic and financial oversight for steering the business through the next phase of its development.

Former deputy managing director of Bouygues Energies & Services Contracting UK, Zeb Ahmed, joined BES as managing director designate on 4th January 2022, and will become CEO on 1 July, taking on day-to-day responsibility for running the company and delivering its commercial strategy. A Chartered European Process Engineer and Oxford University Alumnus, with triple fellowship of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, Energy Institute, and Institute of Directors, Zeb previously worked with several of BES’s leadership team in the 1990s. His process engineering background complements the turnkey service offering of the BES business and the existing relationship between BES’s current board members and the new CEO will enable a smooth transition.

Founder director and current engineering director, Paul Marsh, will become COO of BES when the new board structure takes effect in July. With a formidable track record of leading projects, Paul’s expertise will be instrumental in ensuring BES’s multidisciplinary team delivers consistently high standards and efficient programme delivery as the company takes on increasingly complex, mission critical projects and embarks on a digitalisation pathway.

Steve Marsh comments: “Since BES was first established in 2002, we have always focused on understanding the client’s requirements and delivering an integrated, multidisciplinary approach, providing turnkey project lifecycle services and solutions. Our commitment to nurturing talent, working collaboratively and focusing on achieving optimised outcomes for every project have enabled us to develop long-standing client relationships and a reputation as a leading player in our field. 

“After 20 years of success, the company is well-positioned to achieve our vision of becoming the leading and largest multi-disciplinary specialist in the cGMP facility consultancy, design and delivery sector. The changes to our board and the addition of Zeb to our leadership team will enable us to do that.”

BES is one of only a few specialist companies operating exclusively in the Pharma, Bio, Lifesciences and Healthcare industries. The changes to its leadership team have been designed to enable the business to further align more closely and strategically with its clients and the needs of the markets in which it operates, leveraging its core values of collaboration, open innovation, and sustainability. 

Zeb Ahmed adds: “BES was founded with the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship and has retained that culture for 20 years. I am joining the company at an exciting time in its continued journey of success, with the potential to develop closer strategic relationships with our blue chip client base.

“With single point accountability delivered through BES’s industry-leading in-house capabilities, we have an opportunity to further strengthen our position as one of the UK's leading integrated, process engineering-led, multidisciplinary engineering cGMP facility solution providers. I am looking forward to taking a central role in enabling the business to capitalise on that opportunity, working alongside Paul and Steve.”